Leave My Heart Out Of This
by ekangs
Summary: Sage Olliver's fourth year was bound to be a whirlwind of excitement and entertainment due to the Triwizard Tournament being hosted at Hogwarts. However, what she didn't know was that the dark plot for Lord Voldemort's loyal followers to rise again was being put together bit by bit, using the Tournament as a distraction. And it would change her life in the worst way possible.
1. Chapter 1

The first day of September was always a day that Sage Olliver looked forward to. It was the day that the Hogwarts Express left for Hogwarts, the day that she waited for throughout all of summer. The morning was always busy and full of running and yelling. She'd start the day by waking up her sister Rachel and getting her to eat breakfast before getting her stuff together. Their mother would always yell at them to hurry up before they missed the train. The girls would rush around the house and pack a few last-minute necessities, and then the Olliver family would all leave for King's Cross together. That was always how September first went in their household. This year was no different.

"Come on, girls!" Mrs. Olliver exclaimed as they all rushed toward Platform 9 and ¾.

"Remember, make sure the Muggles don't notice anything!"

"We know, Mum!" Rachel said, exasperated. She rolled her eyes and ran through the barrier when the coast was clear. Sage followed soon after.

"It's 10:58!" Mr. Olliver called as he emerged after them. "Hurry, hurry!"

Rachel and Sage quickly kissed their parents good-bye and hopped onto the train with their luggage. They waved out of a window until they couldn't see their parents anymore and then separated, each in search of her friends. Sage found Stacy Moore, her best friend, in a compartment near the front almost immediately. It was their usual compartment, and with a sigh of relief, Sage pulled her luggage in and collapsed onto a seat.

"Hi to you too," Stacy said, sliding the door shut.

"I'm tired," Sage mumbled. "And hungry."

"Well the trolley will start making its round when the train starts moving," her best friend replied, sitting across from her. "Which is right about now."

The Hogwarts Express had slowly but surely started picking up speed. With the promise of food, Sage sighed and sat up to face Stacy. She had missed her best friend more than usual over the summer. It had been because she knew a little of what Stacy was going through.

"So, what's happened this summer, Stace?" she asked, a concerned frown etched onto her face.

"A lot," Stacy sighed. "Mum and Dad have gotten worse."

Her parents were avid supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They were loyal and fierce in their beliefs about the cruelest wizard to have ever walked the earth. Having grown up in such an evil atmosphere, it wouldn't have been a surprise to anyone if Stacy had gotten sorted into Slytherin. So when she ended up getting sorted into Ravenclaw, her parents had been extremely furious. So furious, in fact, that they had made their way to Hogwarts and gotten into a severe argument with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw house. They had insisted that their daughter belonged in Slytherin and demanded that she be put into that House immediately. The argument had stretched for hours and the outcome had not been pretty.

"We got into another fight and I swear they almost used the Cruciatus Curse on me," Stacy explained. "I don't know what's stressing them out so much. You-Know-Who has been gone for a long time. I don't know why they keep telling me to join the Death Eaters."

"Whoa," Sage exclaimed. "What are your parents thinking?! You're way too young for them to be saying stuff like that!"

"Tell that to my parents," Stacy muttered. "And during the argument, they brought up the fact that I was sorted into the wrong house and that it's messing with my brain somehow. They _always _bringit up. I don't understand why they can't just let it go."

"You need to leave your home," Sage said, a familiar pang of sorrow shooting through her. "Stay with me if you have to, but you can't go back there."

"I can't drag you into this anymore than I already have! If my parents found out that I told you anything, they'd kill you," Stacy exclaimed, running a hand through her dark hair. "Like they'd probably, literally, _actually_ kill you."

"Stace. . ." Sage began. But just as she was about to say more, their compartment door slid open and Draco Malfoy stepped in. The usual sneer on his face dropped when he saw Stacy. Something flashed across his face, but it was gone before Sage could register what it was. Clearing his throat, Draco straightened up, the sneer back in its proper place.

"Wrong compartment," he said, stepping back out and leaving without closing the door.

"Should I ask?" Sage said after she closed the door.

"Nope," Stacy said flatly. "There's nothing worth telling."

"Alright," Sage said, not wanting to irritate her friend further. She decided to change the subject. "Hey, did you notice those hot sixth-years earlier? I think they were checking me out earlier."

Stacy laughed.

"No, seriously! What do you think the chances are that I'll get a snog out of one of them by the end of term?"

"No chance, Sage."

"Well—"

She was interrupted by the squeak of the food trolley. Excited to finally satisfy her hunger, Sage grabbed a handful of coins from her bag and bolted out of the compartment. Unfortunately, she didn't see that there were people right in front of her door and plowed straight into two boys. Her money went flying through the air. Students standing outside of their compartments laughed.

Apologizing profusely, Sage scrambled around, gathering up her coins. Two pairs of hands helped her pick up the fallen money and then took her by the arms and helped her up. She looked up at the identical faces of the boys she had run into: the Weasley twins. She had heard of their pranks and occasionally seen them around the Gryffindor common room, but other than that, she had never talked to them before.

She blushed and stammered out several apologies while the twins looked at her in amusement. They handed her the Galleons they had picked up and smiled at her, kindly saying that it wasn't her fault. They smiled as they walked off. Sage smiled back and then hurried to the trolley, ignoring Stacy's loud laughter. After buying a massive amount of food with the coins that hadn't been knocked out of her hand when she ran into Fred and George, Sage walked back to the compartment and dumped everything out of her arms. Pocketing the money she didn't use, she started eating. Stacy picked up a Chocolate Frog and ate it, savoring the sweet treat.

Sage thought she felt something move in her pocket but ignored it and reached for a handful of Every Flavor Beans. But then she felt something _crawl_ out of her pocket. Looking down, she saw that several of her Galleons had grown legs, like spiders, and were crawling all over her. She stifled a scream and started swatting them off of her. Stacy was frozen with shock, unable to take her eyes off of the scuttling coins. Sage was near tears as she tried to stomp on the spidery coins. She soon gave up and drew her knees up to her chest.

"What the hell?!" Stacy exclaimed, finally coming to her senses. "What is going?!"

Sage didn't have any words. She could only cringe whenever one of the spiders got too close to her. Her dislike of them bordered on fear. Her thoughts raced as she tried to come up with an explanation for the charmed coins. Rachel, a bit of a prankster, was only a second-year and didn't have the knowledge necessary to perform any charm like this. Stacy couldn't have done it because the coins had always been in her possession before she'd taken them out to get food from the trolley.

Then it struck her. The trolley. Fred and George. They had picked up some of the coins for her and must have charmed them while she was too busy being embarrassed to notice. A laugh escaped her lips.

"What's so funny?" Stacy frowned. "You hate spiders!"

Sage took out her wand and returned the coins to their normal state. She then explained what the boys had done. When she was finished, Stacy had a thoughtful look on her face.

"So let's get them back," she said after a few moments of silence.

"Are you sure?" Sage asked. "Us? Get the Weasley twins back for a prank they pulled? They're like the masters of this stuff. We don't stand a chance."

"Oh, yes we do," Stacy grinned. She leaned closer and started whispering her plan for revenge into Sage's ear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Please leave a review so that I know you guys like it. Also feel free to criticize or let me know of what you're hoping to see in this story. Thanks for reading! Love you all :)

* * *

After Stacy had finished whispering her plan of revenge to Sage, they both went off to search for the twins. After nearly fifteen minutes of slowly creeping through the train, they spotted Fred, George, and two of their friends walking out of their compartment. They had to duck back and slip into a compartment full of second-years in order to avoid being seen. Sage smiled sweetly at the girls that were glaring at them for interrupting their conversation. She offered a nonsense excuse as to why they were bothering them as Stacy peeked out and made sure that the coast was clear. Together, with a final apology to the girls, they headed to the twins' now-empty compartment. Stepping inside, they shut the door behind them and got to work.

Stacy took out her wand, pointed it at the small pile of half-eaten food, and whispered, "_Wingardium leviosa._" The food made its way to the ceiling and stayed there. Having found Fred and George's belongings, Sage searched through the bags and pocketed a few items that wouldn't be missed until later. She discovered that the boys had left their wands behind and handed them to Stacy. Feeling satisfied, she looked around to see if there was anything else that could be done. On a whim, she turned their things a bright, neon pink.

"We good?" Stacy asked.

"Yeah," Sage said, and they left. They found an empty compartment nearby and waited.

Five minutes later, Fred and George came back with Lee Jordan and another one of their friends. They walked into their compartment, laughing. The girls could hear them bragging about the charm they'd put on a girl's money and how they would've loved to see the look on her face when they grew legs and started crawling. Sage slid open their door a crack to watch them.

"Ready?" she whispered.

"Wait. . ." Stacy whispered back.

They turned their attention back to the boys, who were still all laughing and chatting.

"Guys," Lee interrupted. "Where's our food?"

"Aw, hell," George complained.

The other boys fell silent. They looked around their compartment as if they expected it to have wandered off into a corner.

"What kind of git takes someone else's food?" Fred exclaimed. "I'm so hungry!"

Stacy glanced at Sage, who grinned and nodded. She slid open the compartment door a little more. Stacy released her levitating charm on the food and after another moment of staying suspended in the air, the food rained down onto the boys' heads. They froze in shock. Slowly, one of the twins raised a hand and touched his head. It came away sticky and smelly. At a loss for words, he looked around. A group of students passing by saw the Weasleys and stopped outside of their compartment and started laughing. The loud laughter caused nearby students to poke their heads outside to see what was going on. Soon, a large group of students was crowded in the small hallway, laughing at the Weasley twins' misfortune.

"Nice bags, Weaslettes," Draco called as he squeezed through the crowd.

"George, get me my wand, would ya?" Fred asked nonchalantly.

"Sure thing, Fredward," George replied. He searched through both of their pink bags for their wands but came up empty. Slightly panicked, he dumped the contents of their bags onto the seat and searched through everything.

"Our wands are gone!" he exclaimed, tossing things aside in his frenzied search.

"They can't seriously have taken those?! We need them!" Fred said, his voice rising. He whirled around to glare at the crowd just outside the door.

"Alright, this isn't funny anymore," he exclaimed, his eyes searching every face. "Which one of you bloody gits did this?"

No one was laughing anymore.

"Since no one's confessing, we have to search every compartment," George whispered.

The crowd started to disperse. Nobody noticed two girls slipping away as well.

"That'll take way too long," Fred whispered back.

"But it's the only way we can make sure we don't miss anyone!" his twin replied, exasperated.

"Yeah, alright," Fred sighed.

And with that, the twins set off.

* * *

When the girls got back to the relative safety of their compartment, they burst out laughing. They had been successful in making Fred and George unhappy and getting away with some of their stuff.

"Did you see their faces when the food fell on them?" Sage asked as she gasped for breath. "That was the funniest thing ever!"

Stacy tried to subdue her laughter long enough to reply but couldn't do it. Instead, she nodded while wiping away the tears that were streaming down her face.

"That was too funny," Sage said with another giggle. "We make an excellent team."

"What are we going to do with their wands and the other things?" Stacy managed to get out.

"Not sure yet," Sage replied. "I haven't quite thought that part through."

The two best friends stuffed the boys' things in their bags and spent the next hour discussing what they could do with it. They were talking about hiding the things in other compartments when the twins barged in.

"Can we help you with something?" Sage asked, arching an eyebrow.

George crossed his arms and said, "I believe you have something of ours."

"I believe you're wrong," Sage replied coolly.

"Since there's nothing we can help you with, the door is right behind you," Stacy said. "Feel free to use it at any time."

At that moment, the train started to screech to a halt. They had arrived at Hogwarts. Students started to stream out in groups of fours and fives.

"Time to get going!" Stacy announced. She and Sage started to pack the trolley food into their bags. They finished putting everything away rather quickly and faced the twins, who had been watching them with stony expressions.

"We honestly don't know what you're talking about," Sage frowned. "Please stop wasting our time and let us out."

George, who was rather hungry and cranky at this point, took a step forward. In the confined space, Sage had no choice but to step back. He kept walking forward until she had her back against the window. Putting both hands on the window on either side of her head, George looked into her eyes and spoke.

"We know you were in our compartment to get revenge on us. So why don't you give us our wands back so that we can all go enjoy the feast that's waiting for us in the Great Hall?" he said, his face merely inches from Sage's. She looked back at him defiantly.

"Revenge?" she asked, acting confused. "Stace, you know what he's blathering on about?"

"No clue," Stacy shrugged.

Sage grinned impishly at the redhead in front of her. She reached underneath George's arm and dug around in her bag for a bit, never breaking eye contact. She held up their wands and waved them in his face. Leaning closer to him, she said, "Maybe next time you'll think twice before you turn my money into creepy little insects."

Without taking his eyes away from Sage's, George grabbed the wands and walked back towards his brother. "Let's go, Fred." And with that, the Weasley twins left their compartment.

"I take it they didn't notice that we took some other stuff?" Stacy grinned.

"Nope," Sage laughed. "It'll be interesting when they do find out, though."

"Should I take some of it?" Stacy inquired. "Or do you want to just keep it all?"

"Well it depends on how much more you want to get involved in this," Sage replied.

"What fun is anything when your best friend isn't right by your side doing it all with you?" Stacy smiled.

Sage grinned and hugged her. "Absolutely no fun at all." She took out two bags of what looked like sweets and handed them to her friend. "I've absolutely no idea what these are but don't eat them, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Stacy said, putting them into her bag.

The rest of the train was silent. Most of the other students had already made their way to the carriages. They rushed out of the Express and hopped onto one of the carriages as it was leaving. They spent the ride to the castle in silence, admiring the scenery and eagerly anticipating the welcoming feast. When they hopped off the carriage and headed to the Great Hall, they passed Draco, who was without his usual thugs. Sage nudged Stacy and mouthed, _talk to him_, but she only shook her head. Professor McGonagall was standing by the doors, ushering students inside. She fixed her stern gaze on them when she noticed them whispering to each other.

"Girls!" she called out, "Come quickly! The Sorting Ceremony is about to start. Let's not linger out here!"

Sage and Stacy hurried inside, saying a quick hello as they raced past their Transfiguration professor. They said goodbye to each other and separated, Stacy headed for the Ravenclaw table and Sage making her way to the Gryffindor table. She slid onto the bench just as Professor Dumbledore started his welcoming speech. After listening to the headmaster talk about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the first-years got sorted into their Houses. Then it was finally time to eat. Everyone piled their plates high and talked happily. Older students wondered who would be chosen to participate in the Tournament and bragged that they would be the ones to represent Hogwarts.

An hour later, nearly all of the students had already left the Great Hall to either sleep or catch up with their friends. Sage finished her cinnamon roll and sighed happily. She got up from the table to go to the Gryffindor dormitories. Stacy had already left ten minutes earlier so Sage had no reason to hang around the Great Hall. She walked out into the corridor and took in the sight of students lingering around, talking to their friends that were in different houses. She said hello to the other Gryffindor students she saw in the corridors. As she walked up more flights of stairs, she greeted the paintings that all waved and smiled at her, wishing her well in the new school year. Sage smiled. It was great to be home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you liked it, disliked it, or whatever. I'd greatly appreciate it :) Thanks, love you all!

* * *

The next morning, Sage woke to the sound of someone banging on the door. She heard the other girls in the room grumbling. Sighing, she tried to ignore it and fall back asleep.

"Is anyone going to get that?" Lavender Brown said in an irritated voice as she put her pillow over her head.

"It's six in the morning!" Parvati Patil complained.

"Sage, get the door," Hermione mumbled from the bed next to her.

"I'm asleep," Sage croaked.

"Sage!" the other girls chimed in.

"Fine," she grumbled. Kicking her blanket off, she tumbled out of bed. The person outside was still banging on the door.

"What?!" she nearly yelled as she flung the door open. Standing in front of her were the twins, smirking.

"Nice hair," George said.

"What do you want?" Sage grumbled.

The boys each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her down the stairs into the common room, ignoring her complaints. But they didn't stop there. They took her out into the corridor and into an unused classroom nearby. Sage shivered. The castle was drafty and she was in a tank top and shorts.

"I don't think this is necessary," she said as she yanked her arm out of the boys' grip. "If you boys wanted to talk to me so badly, you could have just asked."

"No jokes," Fred said, his usually cheerful face solemn. "We want our things back."

"Our money, for starters," George said. "And our toothbrushes."

"What makes you think I have them?" she asked. "You probably lost them on the train or something."

"Nah, we're certain you have them," Fred said.

Sage laughed and said," Yeah, you're right. I do. I was only messing with you."

"Don't forget our . . . sweets," George said.

"You have an awful lot of them," Sage said. "And I left them with my friend."

"She didn't eat any, did she?" Fred asked, looking slightly panicked.

"No, I told her not to," Sage replied. "They didn't look like any sweets I've ever seen before so I told her to stay away from them. Just in case."

"Good, because they're valuable," Fred said, relieved.

"I'm sure they are," Sage replied sarcastically.

"When are you going to get them to us?" George asked. "We need them back."

Sage shrugged and said, "whenever I can spare the time to retrieve them from Stacy and make the effort to find you two."

Fred sighed. "What'll it take for you to get it to us sooner?"

"A promise that you'll leave us alone after this," she stated, carefully watching the boys' faces. Fred and George glanced at each other for a brief moment. It seemed as if they silently communicated with each other. They both nodded.

"No more pranks from us," Fred promised.

"And no more thievery from you," George said.

"Fair enough," Sage smiled. She turned to leave. "I'll meet you guys in the common room within an hour with your things."

"Wait . . ." George paused. "Can you give us our belongings in a less public place? I mean, I know hardly anyone's up, but we can't risk it."

"Risk what? You're not doing illegal things now, are you?"

"No," Fred retorted. "Just meet us back here when you have everything."

"Yeah, fine," Sage said, and walked out the door. She walked out into the corridor, cold and annoyed. They couldn't have waited until a decent hour to demand their things back? She rolled her eyes and walked faster. She was going to have to wait until a Ravenclaw walked out of their tower in order to ask if Stacy was awake yet. Luckily, she knew most of the students in that House were early birds.

Sure enough, a few minutes after she'd climbed the winding staircase to their dormitory, a tall fifth-year walked out, ready to greet the day. He looked startled to find a shivering Gryffindor outside the door, but politely listened to her request and went back inside to get Stacy. A few minutes later, a bleary-eyed Stacy opened the door and held out the bag of sweets.

"Thanks," Sage grinned. "Sorry to have woken you so early."

"No, it's fine," Stacy said through a yawn. "Whatever it takes to get those two to stop bothering you."

"You're the greatest!" Sage exclaimed. "I'll see you at breakfast!"

She made her way back to the unused classroom, taking her time. Not wanting to get back to the twins too quickly, she took a few detours and ended up in the Great Hall. She could smell breakfast being made, even if it was still extremely early. It was significantly warmer in there than it was out in the corridors so Sage settled onto a bench to have some alone time and rested her head on her arms. She wondered what her course schedule would look like. Professors would be handing them out at breakfast and she got nervous thinking about it, as she had in her previous years. Lifting her head, she took in the sight of the empty Hall around her. She enjoyed seeing all the students interacting and talking over each other throughout the day, but it was also quite relaxing to be alone in a place that was usually full of energy. On a whim, Sage resolved to get up earlier every day to enjoy the castle and its morning serenity. She was in her fourth year and she had yet to explore the castle grounds in the morning. She was sure that that was the time when it was the most beautiful. She had yet to do quite a few things as a Hogwarts student, actually.

"Maybe I should try out for the Quidditch team," Sage joked under her breath. Then she thought about it some more. She didn't see why she couldn't. Since the Triwizard Tournament had taken the place of Quidditch and the House Cup, she had the whole year to get better at the sport.

"Huh," she said out loud. "I guess I'll try out for the team, then."

With a start, she realized that she'd been lost in her thoughts for nearly half an hour. With a heavy sigh, she got up and started the chilly walk back to the classroom. She stopped at her dormitory to retrieve the rest of their things and then went to meet them. Fred and George, looking very bored, were sitting on dusty chairs. When they saw her enter, however, their eyes lit up and they bolted out of their seats. She dumped their belongings onto a desk and walked away.

"Remember our deal," she said over her shoulder. And without another glance back, she went back to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** please leave a review if you enjoyed it. Sorry it's so short, it's just a filler. Let me know how I'm doing on the first fanfic I've ever written! Thanks, love you! (:

* * *

The first two months of term passed by in a blur of classes and homework. Sage's daily schedule consisted of only eating, classes, homework, studying, and sleep. She was so busy that she didn't even have any time to spend with Stacy. They got to see each other in Charms, which was the only class that Gryffindors had with Ravenclaws, but it wasn't enough. Not being able to see her best friend as much as she wanted to was killing her. The stress of being a fourth-year student was also starting to wear her down. She was constantly in a bad mood because she had to study more than ever before. It was irrational to be stressing out over her O.W.L.s so early, but with the amount of pressure that Professor McGonagall had just put on them about their importance, she couldn't help but worry.

Sage forced herself to focus on schoolwork and only allowed one distraction to keep her sane: the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students. A large sign had been placed in the entrance hall letting the students know what day they would be coming. She smiled and let out a happy sigh. She'd been waiting since the welcoming ceremony for the day when the Tournament's other participating schools' students would arrive.

"Only a week away!" she heard Ernie Macmillan exclaim.

"Finally, a good distraction," she muttered to herself.

"Did someone request a distraction?" a familiar redhead drawled as he sidled up next to her. "I'm rather exceptional at providing those."

"Go away, George," Sage sighed as he flung his arm around her shoulder. She had barely seen him since the first day of term and was more than happy to keep it that way. "I'm too tired to tolerate you."

But George wasn't listening. He'd started dragging her away from the crowd and towards the Great Hall. "Let's go eat something."

"George, stop!" she exclaimed. "I have to get to the library before it gets full!"

"It's lunch time, m'dear. No one's going to be up there but you. And maybe Hermione. But bloody hell, you sound just like her," he said, squinting at Sage. "You all right?"

"No, I'm not all right!" Sage exclaimed shrilly. "There's too much to do and you're just making everything worse!"

"By the way, I never got your name, love," he said, ignoring her panic. "I know your friend's name is Stacy, but I never got yours."

Exasperated, Sage rolled her eyes and shoved George's arm off of her. "Our deal was that you'd leave me and Stacy alone and you're doing an awful job at keeping your end of the bargain. Just go away. You're so obnoxious!"

"Ooh, there's one insult I haven't heard before," he said sarcastically, looking slightly miffed. "And I do have ears, you know. But as you wish, m'lady."

He gave a courteous bow as she sped away from him without another word. Sage heard him chuckle as he got lost in the crowd of students making their way to the Great Hall. She rolled her eyes and didn't slow down. He was just trying to get on her nerves and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know she was riled. She ran a hand through her hair and pushed George out of her mind.

Sage knew she should be eating with the rest of the students but she didn't have the appetite for anything. The stress was getting to be too much, but all she wanted to do was get her studying out of the way so that she'd have some time to relax later. She headed to the library and settled down to study for the next few hours.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:** hope you're enjoying the story! I'm especially proud of this chapter so _please_ leave a review so I know what you think of it! Thank youuu.

* * *

The entire school was buzzing with excitement. The delegations from the other two schools had arrived as planned a few days ago and all of the students were mingling well. They got to learn about what other schools for witches and wizards were like, which was a subject that interested everyone. In a few hours, it would finally be time to choose the Tournament champions. Students were steadily trickling into the Great Hall in groups, chatting animatedly with each other. At this point, everyone was trying to predict who would be chosen from each school. Cedric Diggory was a popular choice for Hogwarts, as was Viktor Krum for Durmstrang. People even mentioned the ever famous Harry Potter, even though he wasn't of age.

Finally, with the Great Hall packed with students and faculty, the feast began. Laughter mixed in with the clatter of utensils against plates. It was the same sound that filled the Hall every day, but the atmosphere was extremely different. There was an underlying tension that filled the cavernous room. Time seemed to drag by as everyone waited for dinner to be over. Finally, the plates were cleared and Professor Dumbledore called for everyone to settle down. The Great Hall became quiet immediately. Dumbledore walked up to the Goblet and the first parchment with a name scrawled on it was spewed out from the flames. Reading from the slip of parchment, Dumbledore called out, "Viktor Krum!" for the Durmstrang champion. Cheers erupted from almost everyone in the room as the famous Quidditch player made his way to a side chamber amidst the thundering claps.

Next, the Beauxbaton champion was called: "Fleur Delacour!" More cheering. A few of the other Beauxbaton girls started to cry, but no one paid them any attention. Fleur smiled and gracefully exited the Great Hall. Then it was time for the Hogwarts champion to be called. Sage could feel everyone in the room hold their breath. The Goblet released the final piece of parchment. The tension was almost unbearable.

"...Cedric Diggory!" called Dumbledore. A noise similar to an explosion broke out from the Hufflepuff table as Cedric, grinning, got up and made his way to the other room. Several people shook his hand and clapped his back as he made his exit. It took Dumbledore several minutes to calm everyone down, for the Hufflepuffs were beside themselves with happiness, clapping and yelling their joy for Cedric.

"Alright!" he said cheerily. "All the champions have been-"

The Goblet threw out another name in a shower of red sparks. With a frown on his face, Dumbledore took the parchment and read the name. Everyone stared at the Hogwarts headmaster, confused and waiting for a name. Looking around, Dumbledore called out the name of the fourth champion: "Harry Potter."

Whispers broke out around the Great Hall. Sage and Stacy, who had both been sitting at the Gryffindor table, looked at each other, astonished. They watched as Harry got up, just as bewildered as everyone else. He looked nervous. Harry and Professor Dumbledore shared a brief look before Harry walked into the chamber where the other Triwizard champions were waiting. No one was smiling. No one was clapping. Every faculty member from all three schools followed Harry and Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall briefly dismissed everyone before hurrying after the others. But no one moved. Instead, voices fought to be heard as everyone spoke at once.

"How d'you think he did it, then?" Fred asked the people around him. "George and I tried to put our names in, but we ended up with beards!"

"He's not even of age!" exclaimed Angelina Johnson, somewhat in awe. "I wonder how he managed it."

It was at least another hour before anyone got up to leave. Everyone was far too excited to even think about sleep. Sage, however, was one of the first to go since she still had studying to do. She said her goodbyes to Stacy and left for the library.

* * *

Sleep did nothing to calm the castle's inhabitants down. There weren't any classes since it was a Sunday, but the students were still up early and full of energy. The Gryffindors had thrown a party for Harry the previous night and it had ended several hours after midnight. Fred and George walked into the Great Hall for breakfast over half an hour late but there was still plenty of food to go around so they sat and dug in. Harry was nowhere to be seen.

George looked around as he ate. Everyone was excited about the Tournament. He heard numerous conversations about Harry and Cedric. Looking up, he saw the girl who had caused him so much grief on the Express. Her friend, Stacy, was sitting next to her.

"Hey, Hermione," George said, turning to his right.

"Yes?" she replied, turning away from her conversation with Ron.

"Who's that girl over there?" he asked, gesturing at Stacy's friend.

"Oh, that's Sage," she said with a smile. "She's quite nice."

"I'm sure," George said with a grin. Clearing his throat, he turned back to Sage and caught both of the girls' attention.

"Sage, isn't your friend in Ravenclaw or something?" George asked in a teasing tone.

Sage managed to look surprised that he knew her name and roll her eyes at the same time. "Yeah, so?"

"So," he continued, "I don't think she should be sitting here at our sacred Gryffindor table." He grinned, and turned to Fred. "Right, Fred?"

"Right you are, brother o'mine!" Fred exclaimed heartily.

"There aren't any rules against other houses sitting with each other," Hermione cut in from his other side.

"Eavesdropper," Fred shot back. Hermione huffed and turned back to Ron. George smiled.

"Only meant to tease, of course," he said. Sage rolled her eyes again, and muttered something that sounded like, "_annoying_" under her breath. Stacy giggled.

"Come again, Sage? Didn't quite hear you there," George said, cupping a hand around his ear. Sage grumbled something else and picked up her wand to make a bread roll fly at his face. George dodged it, and it ended up hitting Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl, in the face. Sage stifled a gasp. Pansy glared at the Gryffindor table.

"Who threw that?" she demanded. Sage pointed at George with eyes wide as if she couldn't believe him would do such a thing. She meant to blame him as a joke, but she didn't expect what was about to happen. Sparks flew from Pansy's eyes. Clearly, she had been in an exceptionally foul mood and Sage had just made it worse.

"Think it's funny to throw food at people, do you?" she hissed, getting up from her seat. Not wanting to miss a chance to aggravate a Slytherin, George smirked.

"I find it _very_ funny, actually," he said breezily. Pansy was about to spit out a reply when she noticed Stacy, who had been lost in thought while staring at Draco. Frowning, she looked back and forth between them. A sneer appeared on her ugly face.

"Well, well," she said, "what are you staring at Draco for?"

Stacy looked up at Pansy, realizing she had been caught. Even though a slight blush crept into her cheeks, she shook her head.

"Nothing," was her short reply. That drew a nasty laugh from Pansy.

"I saw you looking, girl," Pansy said. Draco, who had turned around to watch the action, remained quiet. His usual sneer was still on his face, but he wasn't exactly looking at anyone.

"Then you better check your eyesight, _girl_," Stacy said, her temper starting to rise. Pansy snickered.

"Do you _like_ Draco? I know what I saw. Had a cute, dreamy little look on your face, you did," Pansy said. Stacy rolled her eyes, pretending not to care. However, she froze as Pansy's next words hit her. "By the way, how are your parents? Seeing as they are what they are, I can't imagine they're very happy that you turned out _this_ way, spending time with Gryffindors and all."

She didn't know how Pansy knew about her parents. Stacy felt numb. _How did Pansy know?_ Were her parents Death Eaters too? Stacy couldn't make sense of anything. She was thrown completely off guard. Her biggest fear had always been that the secret about her parents would get out somehow and apparently it had. Against her will, Stacy was starting to panic. It must have shown on her face because Pansy was looking extremely satisfied.

Sage was furious. Picking up her wand, she stood and pointed it at Pansy. "_Enough._"

Pansy's nauseating smirk fell. She whipped out her wand and pointed it at Sage as well. "Excuse me?! Don't you _dare_ point your wand at _me_, you disgusting half-blood."

Sage's fury kept mounting. She didn't care about what Pansy had just said. What she cared about was her best friend. How dare that vile girl mention Stacy's parents like that? It was practically like revealing what they were. Sage hated seeing her best friend hurt. Stacy had had enough hardships in her life; she did _not_ need this miserable excuse of a witch making it worse. By now, the entire Great Hall had grown deathly silent and was watching. Teachers were hurrying towards the girls with their wands out, but no matter what trouble she got in, she wouldn't let Pansy get away with saying that to Stacy.

_"Afflig-"_ Sage was just about to cast a spell that would've struck Pansy across the face when George stepped in front of her.

"Sage, stop!" he exclaimed.

"George, _move,_" she said through gritted teeth. When he didn't move or speak, she tried to shove him away. She needed to get a clear view of Pansy in order to get a shot at her. Instead, she saw that Draco had stepped in front of Pansy and had forced her to lower her wand. Frowning, she turned her attention back to George. Glaring hatefully at him, Sage could only stand there until the teachers reached them.

"_What_ is going on here?" thundered Professor McGonagall. Neither Sage nor Pansy spoke, for they were again locked in a venomous stare with each other. "Since no one is capable of speaking, we will have to take this seemingly one-sided conversation to my office. Mr. Weasley, escort Miss Olliver and Miss Moore out of the Great Hall. And Mr. Malfoy, take Miss Parkinson."

As George started to move, Sage turned her focus on him.

"Don't you even think about _escorting_ us out. We know the way," she spat. Taking Stacy and putting an arm firmly around her, the two girls strode out of the Great Hall, followed by Draco, Pansy, and Professor McGonagall. Fred patted George on the back sympathetically as he sat back down.

"You did the right thing, Georgie. Don't take it too hard if she hates you," Fred said in an attempt to be light-hearted. But George only shook his head. It was unsettling, the way Sage had looked at him with pure hatred in her eyes. He slumped forward, dejected. He was definitely used to people being annoyed with him or even mad at him for the pranks he pulled, but no one had ever hated him. He pushed his plate away, having lost his appetite.

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	6. Chapter 6

Once they were out of the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall simply said, "To my office," and set off at a brisk pace. The students trailed behind. Sage kept a great distance from Pansy, wanting to close her hands around the girl's throat. She kept her rage in check and instead gave Stacy a reassuring squeeze as they reached their Transfiguration professor's office. They filed in as McGonagall turned on them.

"First of all, you all have detention. That includes Mr. Weasley, regardless of whether he was truly involved or not. And second, have you girls _lost it_?" She directed her rage at Sage and Pansy. "Pulling out your wands in the middle of the Great Hall? _Students could have gotten hurt!_" McGonagall was fuming.

Pansy cleared her throat and simpered, "Professor, I'd like to point out that it was _her _who started it."

"And that'll be ten points from Slytherin, Miss Parkinson, for childishly blaming Miss Olliver. IT doesn't matter _whose_ fault it is. I am appalled that this has happened. And in the presence of two other schools, no less! Thirty points from each of your Houses for such _horrid_ behavior! Now leave, and someone be sure to tell Mr. Weasley of his detention. It will be tomorrow after your classes."

The four students left, miserable and angry. Pansy stormed off as soon as she left the office. Draco lingered as if he wanted to talk to Stacy, but a single glare from Sage set him walking away with his tail between his legs. Stacy gave her best friend a grateful smile and headed for her dormitory without another word.

When Sage entered the Gryffindor common room, she saw that the twins were there, as were Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Upon seeing her, George stood up. He started to speak but Sage held up a hand.

"You've got detention with the rest of us tomorrow after classes," she intoned. Then she walked up the stairs that led to her dormitory.

"Sage, I'm sorry that—" was all that George managed to blurt out before the slam of a door told him that Sage had no interest in what he had to say. "Damn." He collapsed back into the armchair he had been occupying.

"Was it so wrong for me to stop her?" he asked no one in particular.

"Well if you hadn't, who knows what could've happened?" Hermione said, ever the practical one. "She could've gotten expelled!"

"Yes, but now she hates me," said George, rubbing his eyes. "I don't want her to hate me."

"Let her hatred run its course, mate," Harry said, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Y'know, it might not even be hatred, just extreme anger!"

"Thanks," George replied flatly. "That helped so much."

* * *

The next day, the time that they spent in classrooms flew by. The time for detention had come and they all met with Professor McGonagall in her office. With a stony expression, she explained their punishments and what exactly it was that she wanted them to do.

"Mr. Weasley, you and Miss Parkinson will be working together in the library to attend the tasks that Madam Pince has set aside for you. Mr. Malfoy, you will be with Miss Olliver completing the tasks that Mr. Filch sets for you."

At this, Sage frowned, upset that she didn't get paired up with Stacy. McGonagall took no notice and continued.

"Miss Moore, you will be assisting our gamekeeper Hagrid as he tends to his duties. Off you go now. You will find what you need when you get to your detention areas. And you will be released of your punishments when I say so."

And with that, the five students were shooed out of her office. Pansy and George stalked off to the library, both of them silently sulking. Stacy and Sage pulled away into a corner to talk before leaving for detention.

"Stace, do you want me to punch him or anything? Shove a trophy onto his fat head and then bang on it with my wand? You know I would!" Sage said, glancing at Draco.

Stacy smiled and shook her head. "Don't cause any more trouble by doing that! I appreciate it, but he's not worth it."

"You're no fun," Sage laughed. They said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways.

* * *

Walking outside, Stacy took a deep breath of fresh air. It helped to calm her nerves. She was glad that she had been sent to work with Hagrid. She'd enjoyed his time as her teacher last year and looked forward to seeing him again. She reached his hut in no time and knocked. From inside, a dog barked. Then the door opened to reveal Hagrid's large form.

"Stacy!" he exclaimed with a smile. "How are yeh doing? Not too badly, I hope. Come on in."

Stepping into her former professor's hut, Stacy looked around. It was a cozy place, even if there were all sorts of strange objects everywhere.

"Don' mind this mess," Hagrid said, shuffling over to the fire. "Tea?"

Stacy politely refused and sat in an armchair by the fireplace. Hagrid's dog came over and licked her face.

"Alright, so yeh have detention, do yeh? The workload won't be too hard on yeh because I know yer a good student and probably don't deserve to be here," Hagrid said, sitting across from her. "Might I ask why yeh got detention in the firs' place? Yeh don't seem the type to get into trouble."

"Ummm," Stacy said as she tried to summarize the previous day's events to the best of her ability, "long story short is that my best friend defended me from Pansy Parkinson and now the three of us have detention, including George Weasley and Draco Malfoy, who stopped the other girls from starting a duel in the Great Hall."

Hagrid smiled at her. "Don' mean to smile at yer misfortune, but it actually is amusing. It somehow makes a whole lotta sense that one o' the Weasley twins is involved. But that Malfoy boy? He's no good at all."

Stacy allowed herself a small smile. He'd been one of her favorite professors last year but didn't want that to get in the way of the work she had come to do.

"Um, shouldn't I start detention now, Professor Hagrid?" she asked timidly. She also didn't want to get into trouble for not doing her punishment.

"Blimey, Stacy! Am I still yer professor? No, I'm not! Calling me 'Hagrid' will do just fine. And, well, I figure yeh can start any time you want. All that needs to be done here is just a little bit o' organizing an' I think yeh'll be alright fer today."

"That's all?" Stacy asked, confused. She'd expected more.

"That's all!" Hagrid said cheerily. "I expect that Professor McGonagall sent you down here because she knew I wouldn't really make yeh do much. I 'spect she knows you're not exactly guilty in all this Sage an' Pansy drama so she let you off easy."

"Oh," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "Well okay then."

And with that, she set to work, obeying Hagrid's instructions and smiling happily to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

The hours that Sage spent in detention trickled by extremely slowly. She was certain she would've preferred torture rather than doing Filch's dirty work with Malfoy. They spent the three hours doing nasty, tedious tasks and glared at each other the entire time. She itched to have her wand with her but the caretaker had taken both of theirs as an "added precaution" since he didn't trust them to manually do the chores. By the end of detention, she was in a murderous mood and stormed off after getting her wand back. She didn't really know where she was going but knew that she had to be outside. She couldn't stand another second cooped up in the castle.

Before she knew it, she was by the Quidditch pitch. Wanting to blow off steam, she stormed into the broomshed and grabbed her Nimbus 2000, which had been a gift from her parents for doing well on her first year end-of-term examinations. Once outside, she threw her belongings onto a bench and then kicked off into the air. Much of her anger dissipated the instant she was high in the air. It had been far too long since she ridden a broom. Sage whooped as she made several laps around the field and weaved in and out of the goal posts. She happily lost all track of time as she swooped around the pitch as fast as she could go.

At some point she realized that she was missing dinner but that thought didn't stop her. Her favorite childhood activity was so liberating that she didn't really care about anything. The sun was setting when Sage noticed a lone figure coming out of the broomshed. It rose into the air and started doing small laps below her. With a shrug, she continued to fly and do maneuvers in the air until it became too dark to see. Just as her feet touched the ground, the other flyer did the same. She grabbed her things and headed for the broomshed, now eager to get out of the chilly November evening. After lovingly putting her Nimbus 2000 away, she turned to find the other in the shed as well, ruffling his windswept hair and putting away one of the school's old brooms. From the looks of his uniform, he was a Durmstrang student. He met her stare and smiled.

"Hi," he said. "I'm William."

"Sage," she smiled, shaking his extended hand. "Had a good practice out there?"

"I did, thank you," he replied. His accent was much better than Krum's.

There was an awkward pause. "Alright. Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got a dinner to go eat!"

"May I join you?" he asked almost timidly. "I haven't eaten yet either."

"Sure," she replied. Inwardly, she was excited and hoped that he'd become her first Durmstrang friend.

Together, they walked up to the castle and made small talk. When they reached the Great Hall, there were very few students left. They sat at the empty Gryffindor table and helped themselves to the food that was thankfully still there. William, who was initially a shy person, opened up more as their conversation flowed smoothly. He talked about his school and his culture and asked Sage questions about hers. She learned a lot about him that night, and when they left the Great Hall, they made plans to see each other again before parting.

They became close friends over the next three weeks, constantly spending time with each other. They watched the first Tournament challenge together, along with Stacy and a few of their other friends. The entire school was excited and wanted nothing more than a great show. And they were not let down. All four champions performed exceptionally and got away with minor injuries. The most interesting champion to watch had been Harry. Sage had seen him basically sick with worry in the weeks prior to the first task and she was proud that he had not lost his mind at the start of the task.

"What do you think really happened?" Will asked suddenly. "Do you think he put his name in the Goblet somehow?"

"No," Sage replied, "I believe Harry when he said he didn't."

"Hmm," Will grunted. "Wonder who did, then."

Later that night, at the party in the Gryffindor common room, Sage squeezed through the crowd of people to congratulate Harry. He smiled and thanked her and soon vanished as everyone around them fought for his attention. Sage was taking a particularly large gulp of butterbeer when a terrible screeching noise came from somewhere in the room. Startled, her drink slopped all over her robes. Covering her ears, Sage looked around for the source of the noise.

"Harry!" she screeched, seeing the open egg in her friend's hands. "Close it!"

Not having to listen to everyone's shouted pleas for him to close the egg, Harry forced the prize shut. After it snapped closed, he looked around sheepishly, apologizing to everyone. "Didn't know it'd do that."

After that particular event, the party dwindled down and soon, people started heading for bed. Sage was one of the first to leave. On her way to the stairs, she accidentally caught George's eye and saw the unspoken apology on his face. He looked as if he wanted to approach her and talk to her, so with hatred bubbling in her gut, she sped up the staircase to her dormitory and slammed the door. She crawled into bed soon after and fell into a dreamless sleep.

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**Author's note:** if you liked it, please review/like/favorite the story :) Thanks!


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